Washington, D.C. - United States Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) released the following statement today regarding President Bush’s Fiscal Year 2005 Budget:
“There is a huge gap between the goals the president set forth in his State of the Union address on January 20 and the budget he released today. The President’s newly released budget shows that his rhetoric does not match his actions or the realities of problems facing our nation. In his State of the Union address, President Bush told the American people that he understands their struggle to achieve financial security, but in reality his budget ignores the real challenges they are facing.
“In the State of the Union address, the President called upon the Congress to fully implement the “No Child Left Behind” education initiative, but his budget under-funds that initiative by $9.4 billion. This budget exposes the State of the Union Address for what it was, a campaign speech rather than a serious plan for addressing the nation’s problems.”